A Métis podcast was recently launched which features the history of the culture in the province.
The Paykiiwikay, Métis Culture Podcast is hosted by interdisciplinary Métis artist and author Leah Dorion, and produced by veteran broadcast journalist and foreign correspondent David McGuffin.
Canadian Geographic and Métis Nation- Saskatchewan are proud partners of the Paykiiwikay podcast, which is Michif for “come and visit.” The podcast takes listeners on a journey through Métis communities around Saskatchewan.
Since the ten episode podcast was recorded during the COVID-19 pandemic, the majority of the interviews were conducted virtually.
“Our plans to actually romp around the province, was limited by the pandemic,” said McGuffin.
Dorian chatted with Métis elders, educators, artists and cultural leaders, as she learned about what they are doing to keep the Michif language and culture vibrant and alive for future generations.
The diverse guests featured in the podcast bring different points of views and interesting perspectives while talking about the Métis culture.
“It was really nice to showcase the Métis community members’ stories from all over the province. We picked different zones of the province and got representation from different areas across south, central and northern Saskatchewan,” said Dorion. “We really have a nice mix of elders and knowledge keepers; well recognized community elders: Calvin Racette, Joanna Potiyandiy and Norman Fleury. And then we have more youthful people, like Amy Briley, who are going to be sharing for many years to come, the skills that they hold.”
McGuffin has Métis roots but he said he wasn’t raised in the Métis culture, and he was very appreciative to learn so much about Métis history while working on the podcast.
“For me it was a wonderful learning experience and it has been great working with Leah because she was sort of the opposite of me. She is deep in her Métis roots and deep in that community and knows seemingly everyone in the Métis community in Saskatchewan, and it’s been wonderful seeing various relationships coming together in audio,” he said.
One of the episodes in the podcast features Wanuskewin Heritage Park executive chef Jennifer Lessard.
Lessard takes a unique approach to her cooking, as it’s heavily influenced by Métis culture.
“A lot of what she talked about on the podcast is how the Métis culture is so rooted to the land. And for her cooking, she has really gone to the land herself; whether it is berries or different kinds of produce that you find naturally in Saskatchewan. She is really focused on developing a cuisine based on that,” said McGuffin.
Métis culture is ingrained in the province including the Duck Lake area and Beardy’s and Okemasis Cree Nation and this podcast has little of everything for everybody.
“I think they might be very interested in all of our guests because they are going to have that common experience of being from such a historic Métis area,” Dorion said.
One of the topics that is talked about in the podcast is the Michif language which is a blend of french and Cree along with other First Nation languages. The Michif language is a huge part of Métis culture which is almost become a forgotten language
“It’s a language that is endangered in going extinct but there’s a very strong conservative effort to keep it alive,” said McGuffin. “We talk about it a lot, like in our first episode with Russell Fayant who is a language expert and in another episode with Norman Fleury who wrote the Michif dictionary. The Michif language weaves it’s way through all the various episodes.”
Dorian has started to study the Michif language and she is making a conscious effort to speak it on a more consistent basis, which has forced her to really start stepping up in the Métis community and being another voice for Michif advocacy.
“If you don’t try, we lose what we do have, so it’s has encouraged me to take the risks and play with the vocabulary and learn what I can,” she said.
If more people gain interest in the Michif language, Dorion believes it could lead to more community programming and hopefully the Métis community can advocate around the language preservation.
“One of the things the podcast does is, it’s really good at exposing people to the state of the language and creating curiosity,” said Dorion.
All ten Episodes of the Paykiiwikay, Métis Culture Podcast are all unique and highlights a different aspect of the Métis culture.
“We’re not hammering the same thing over-and-over again, this is really about just showing people how broad, rich and deep this culture is,” said McGuffin.
People can hear the podcast on iTunes, Amazon music, Spotify, SoundCloud and at cangeo.ca/paykiiwikay. A new episode will be uploaded once every two weeks until May.